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UN urged to act on Vietnam over death penalty

The Associated Press

Updated:
02/11/2014 10:21:41 PM EST

HANOI, Vietnam—The United Nations should immediately freeze anti-drug assistance to Vietnam after the communist country sentenced 30 people to die for drug-related offenses, three human rights groups working to get countries to abolish the death penalty said Wednesday.

The call from Harm Reduction International, Reprieve and the World Coalition Against the Death Penalty cites the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime's internal human rights guidance requiring the organization to stop funding for a country if it's feared that such support may lead to people being executed.

"Our organizations have, for many years, been raising concerns about UN assistance for drug enforcement in countries that continue to apply the death penalty for drug offences," said the letter, which was sent to the UN resident coordinator in Vietnam and the UNODC country manager.

Last month, a court in northern Vietnam sentenced 30 people to death last month for heroin trafficking, the largest number of defendants sentenced to death in a single trial in the country's court history. The trial of each defendant lasted around a day. There are nearly 700 people on the death row in Vietnam, many of them for drugs.

UNODC media officers didn't respond to emailed requests for a comment sent to them on Tuesday.

UNODC aid to Vietnam will exceed $5 million for technical assistance, equipment, training and other support for the 2012-2017 period, the letter said. Drug control is the largest component of the program.

Last year, two European nations stopped funding anti-drug programs in Iran via the United Nations because of the execution of drug suspects there.